The Drumhead Trial
So, Saddam is on trial. Whoopee. Why even bother?
It's obvious that he's not going to get anything like a fair trial... something that's well underscored by the fact the American military is attempting to censor journalist reports from the courthouse. Sure, Saddam was a cruel and vicious bastard, and he deserves to face the death penalty - but at the very least, he also deserves a fair, open and unbiased hearing. This current exercise is nothing but a sham drumhead trial taking place before a show execution.
It's not a surprise the American administration is not happy to allow his voice to be heard in the west - there's so much that's embarrassing that could come out... this page is a pretty interesting reference.
Of course, Britain is no better - we managed to express our shock and outrage at the gassing of Halabja by doubling our export credits to Iraq in the later part of 1988.
The trial of Saddam is a sham, and will remain a sham, until the political leaders, past and present, in the West are also taken to task for their involvement in Saddam's crimes against humanity. And maybe then, we can start looking at an appropriate system for ensuring that the elites in the west are equally culpable for their aggression.
State-supported terrorism is still terrorism regardless of which state is pulling the strings. Britain and America both have a long history of active involvement in brutal acts of violence against civilian populations, such as the 1985 car bomb attempted assassination in Beiruit that killed 85 innocent bystanders. The hypocrisy of this trial is sickening.
Of course, I'm sure now that Saddam-Lite is taking over, things will be rosy again. After all, the US have long been looking for someone who can maintain an iron-fist, strong-arm control of Iraq, and who isn't Saddam. Looks like they have their wish.
It's obvious that he's not going to get anything like a fair trial... something that's well underscored by the fact the American military is attempting to censor journalist reports from the courthouse. Sure, Saddam was a cruel and vicious bastard, and he deserves to face the death penalty - but at the very least, he also deserves a fair, open and unbiased hearing. This current exercise is nothing but a sham drumhead trial taking place before a show execution.
It's not a surprise the American administration is not happy to allow his voice to be heard in the west - there's so much that's embarrassing that could come out... this page is a pretty interesting reference.
Of course, Britain is no better - we managed to express our shock and outrage at the gassing of Halabja by doubling our export credits to Iraq in the later part of 1988.
The trial of Saddam is a sham, and will remain a sham, until the political leaders, past and present, in the West are also taken to task for their involvement in Saddam's crimes against humanity. And maybe then, we can start looking at an appropriate system for ensuring that the elites in the west are equally culpable for their aggression.
State-supported terrorism is still terrorism regardless of which state is pulling the strings. Britain and America both have a long history of active involvement in brutal acts of violence against civilian populations, such as the 1985 car bomb attempted assassination in Beiruit that killed 85 innocent bystanders. The hypocrisy of this trial is sickening.
Of course, I'm sure now that Saddam-Lite is taking over, things will be rosy again. After all, the US have long been looking for someone who can maintain an iron-fist, strong-arm control of Iraq, and who isn't Saddam. Looks like they have their wish.
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